


Run, Rabbit, Run

by KaijinKyn



Series: A Scientist, An Experiment and Their Ghost [1]
Category: Hatoful Kareshi | Hatoful Boyfriend
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bird/Human Hybrids, Blood, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, On the Run, References to Illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-10-12 17:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10495869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaijinKyn/pseuds/KaijinKyn
Summary: The laboratory was dark in the evening, Souma knew this well. He wasn’t supposed to be here - he wasn’t supposed to be here, doingthis- but he was anyway.His shoes clicked every time they touched the tiled floor and Souma tried not to be unnerved by theemptinessof it all - multiple times he’d jumped around to look for things that weren’t there, tricks played by the echos of the silent facility and his own fear.





	

**Author's Note:**

> @ myself pls stop writing drabbles for AU's and actually write something substancial, thanks

The laboratory was dark in the evening, Souma knew this well. He wasn’t supposed to be here - he wasn’t supposed to be here, doing _this_ \- but he was anyway.

His shoes clicked every time they touched the tiled floor and Souma tried not to be unnerved by the _emptiness_ of it all - multiple times he’d jumped around to look for things that weren’t there, tricks played by the echos of the silent facility and his own fear.

He needed to calm down, for fucks sakes, but it was hard when you were blatantly breaking every rule in the book - and for what, exactly? Certainly not his original goals. No, he was here because of a _child_. A child who, against all odds, had managed to worm his way into Souma’s heart just by existing, by accepting the needles in his arm and the swabs in his mouth and the constant watching with nothing more than resignation on his face.

That wasn’t the kind of look a child should wear. It was the expression Souma saw on his own face whenever he looked at his reflection, the expression of someone who had given up on a lot of things a long time ago.

Souma didn’t have anything left to lose. Nageki, at least, had a life ahead of him - or he would do, once Souma got him away from this place.

“Nageki. Nageki, wake up.” Souma kept his voice down as he gently shook Nageki awake by the shoulder, aware that any loud noises could set off the alarms that were in place in each subject’s room. Souma had special access to Nageki’s as his personal researcher, but that only got him past the door - at night, everything was on alert. Even moving too fast could be dangerous.

Though the boy stirred, he didn’t open his eyes and Souma held back a sigh, biting his lip worriedly instead. He’d have to carry Nageki… That was going to either be a disaster or work out really well. It depended on how his leg was feeling and, at the moment, it didn’t seem to be in his favour. Still. Anything to get Nageki out of here.

“Hey. What’re you doing?” Souma ignored the voice as he picked Nageki up as carefully as he could, the child clinging to the starry-patterned blanket he’d brought to the labs on his first day and had refused to give up since. A remainder of his life before it had gone to shit, Souma supposed. He wasn’t going to make Nageki leave it, of course not - if the dove needed it, he needed it. “Isa. Don’t ignore me. What are you doing with my brother?”

Shifting Nageki so his head was resting against Souma’s shoulder, the researcher winced at the dull pain in his right arm for a moment before slowly making his way for the door, ignoring it for now. He’d wake the boy up once they were outside his room and he could walk by himself without worry of the alarms going off - and he’d deal with the annoyance then, too. “ _Isa._ ”

“ _Shut up._ ” Souma hissed in response, his self-control nonexistent in the face of stress. He paused in his slow trek across Nageki’s room to flinch, fearful that slight noise had set off the alarms - but no, he was apparently going to be alright. That had been too close, however and Nageki was growing heavier in his arms. He had to get out, quickly, before he really _did_ fuck up.

The other seemed to have gotten the hint as he fell silent, allowing Souma to leave the room without issue from then on. Immediately afterwards the partridge breathed out a heavy sigh of relief, setting down Nageki on the floor to just lean against the wall and thank his lucky stars nothing had gone wrong. He’d never been so stressed before - but that had been the hardest part. Hopefully he’d never feel stress like that again, but imagining what his life was going to be like from here on was enough to make Souma want to cry, so he didn’t hope too hard.

“Well? What was that about? What’re you _doing_ , Isa?” Cracking open his eyes from behind his glasses to glare irritably at the not-quite-a-person who had almost ruined everything, Souma stood straight and brushed off his lab coat, irritated. Honestly, he’d rather not talk to the other at all if necessary, but… Souma supposed it was important he was at least _aware_ of what was going on, otherwise he might try to interfere with Souma in the worst possible ways.

“I am taking your brother away from this place, myself as well. He does not deserve... This. He needs somebody to take care of him and I am the only one willing enough to do so.” Hitori Uzune stared at Souma for a few seconds, grey eyes suspicious and distrustful. Hitori didn’t trust Souma and for good reason - the partridge was working with the enemy, after all. “Please, don’t look at me like that. Trust me when I say I am doing this for Nageki’s sake. He is very sick and what they plan to do with him will only make it worse. I want to help, Uzune, I swear.”

“...I don’t like you, Isa. But I haven’t got anything I can use at this moment to be completely distrustful of what you say, so - fine. I don’t have much choice but to come along, either way.” Souma ducked his head, a fairly informal bow of thanks to the other. They didn’t get along but that didn’t mean Souma couldn’t at least _attempt_ to be polite.

Crouching down beside Nageki the researcher went to try and wake him up again - they weren’t out of the clear yet and Souma couldn’t carry the boy forever. However, Nageki was already awake, rubbing away sleep from the corners of his orange eyes with a soft yawn.

“Mm… Dr. Isa? What’s goin’ on?”

“We’re leaving, Nageki. Come on - hold my talon, if you must.” Nageki did as much, gripping onto Souma’s weaker right talon in a tight grip and keeping an equally strong hold on his blanket, letting Souma lead him at a slightly too-fast walk for his shorter legs. Hitori walked alongside them, frequently casting worried glances down at his sleepy brother and then behind his shoulder, obviously as unsettled as Souma had been on the journey there - and still was, going back. They needed to get out, _quick_. He’d done what he could but security was still a bitch and once _they_ realised both their prime researcher and subject were gone, there’d be hell to pay.

The front door was unlocked by his keycard which hung around his neck, Souma tapping his foot impatiently as the doors swung open, Nageki becoming an increasingly heavy weight on his arm as the boy drifted back to sleep while standing. He’d let Nageki rest soon, soon, just not _yet_ \- they had to get away from here first.

“Hurry, Nageki. You may sleep shortly, I promise, it’s just a little further.” The child nodded, too tired to respond and still half-asleep enough to not properly question what was happening. Souma was thankful, he wasn’t sure how patient he would be able to stay if Nageki was constantly asking him questions. He was sure he’d get enough of those in the morning but he was stressed enough at the moment to want some peace and quiet.

Gently ushering Nageki out the door, he was careful to make sure they both avoided the growing bloodstains on the tiles outside, Souma pausing only half a second to admire the brilliant red colour in the slowly rising sun before shaking his head and carrying on. Half a second was all Hitori needed, however, the teen making a noise of panic and fear.

“Isa! T-Those guards, they’re-”

“It was necessary.” Souma interrupted the other with his usual dull tones, continuing to herd Nageki along, the boy barely able to keep on his feet. Hitori frowned, biting his lip and looking at Souma distrustfully before looking back at the crime scene with obvious concern. Sighing heavily and feeling a little more able to speak freely now that they were properly on the move, Souma explained. “I was not going to get past the guards and stay undetected without killing them, Uzune. There was no other choice-”

“You could have- I don’t know, tranquillised them or something!”

“And have them alert my boss about who, exactly, had betrayed the Hawk Party’s trust after they woke up? Believe me, I investigated into every possibility, Uzune. Murder was the safest option.” The quail fell silent after that, expression drawn.

Souma wasn’t interested in knowing what he was thinking about - no doubt it was along the lines of complaining about Souma’s lack of morals. No, he’d left those on the operating table a long time ago, back when his job had been important.

Somewhere along the way, Souma had lost sight of what he wanted to do with himself - be a researcher, be the best, live a life that had slowly been getting better. Soon after, he had been scrambling for straws, promising things he couldn’t keep and offering to grant wishes he couldn’t fulfil.

Now he was on the run with a child and the ghost of said child’s dead brother. Souma didn’t know what this meant for himself or Nageki - he didn't know much of anything at all, these days. But he was going to do his best not to fuck up this time, no matter what.

He just hoped Ryuuji was proud of him.


End file.
